Oh My Dolly!

So... I received a package in the mail Saturday morning (and yes, I stalked the tracking number like no one's business, lol).

Oh yes.. my custom made Dolly Couture dress had ARRIVED! I swear, I felt like I had given birth to a newborn baby, I was so excited! So, I did what any normal blooded bride to be would do.. I ripped that bad boy open!

I'm not even kidding you right now, how that got that much poof into that box, I will never know. It took some serious muscle to pull that garment bag out of the box! (It doesn't really help that the dress itself is like 6 inches too long... but, that's not Dolly Couture's fault, oh no.. that would be the fault of the seamstress that I PAID to professionally take my measurements. Moving on..)

Here it is hanging on my bedroom door in it's garment bag, it's so cute that they tied a little blue bow on the hanger! I wish I could have gotten the full length of the garment bag in the picture so you could have a better understanding of how poofy it is, but I could only back up so far.

Now, unfortunately for my dear readers... you're not going to get the see the dress. The reason why is because I need to have it altered to fit my body right. Remember how I saw that the professional seamstress messed up the hem length, yeah.. she messed up my chest and arm hole lengths, too. So, I need to get it altered to fit just right. Once I do, I'll be happy to share picture with you all because it is seriously a GORGEOUS dress and I couldn't be happier with the craftsmanship and design!

But, I don't want to completely leave you hanging so here's a sneak peak!

Party Dress

So, I've been trying to find the perfect party dress to wear to my bachelorette party with no such luck. Yesterday, while out at the mall with my fiance I stumbled upon a clearance rack of dresses and tried one on... I was IN. LOVE.

I wish I could show you pictures of it on, but I don't have a full length mirror to take on it and it looks so much better on me than it does on the pictured model. Anyways.. here's what I got:

It's going to be perfect for a night out on the town (not to mention 80s night bc I feel with the right accessories it can have an 80s-ish vibe).  Hey.. the bride to be should stand out from everyone else, right? But, I may also be able wear it to my bridal shower as well.

Oh.. P.S. I got a shipping confirmation from Dolly Couture yesterday!! My wedding dress should be here soon!!!! WOOT!

So Charming

Sorry it's been awhile! I have great excuses, but I'll spare you. Lets just say.. my photography business has been BOOMING lately (I have 4, possibly 5, wedding booked for next year already!) and it's sucked up so much of my time lately (but I'm not complaining). But, now we're under 3 months till the wedding and this blog is about to get poppin'!

So yesterday was like Christmas Day.. I got so many goodies in the mail (I'm seriously going to be devastated when the wedding is over and I'm not getting packages in the mail anymore.. the only thing I'll be able to look forward to getting in the mail will be my Cosmo magazine once a month! LOL!)

One of the things that came in the mail were these BEAUTIFUL bouquet charms that I ordered. I ordered one of my mom who passed away when I was 2 and one of my grandma (my mom's mom who I was SUPER close with) who passed away 7 years ago. I also ordered one of Derrick's grandpa to pin inside his tux jacket so his grandpa can be close to his hear during the wedding (he was super close to his Grandpa and he passed away several years ago and it's still hard for him to talk about.)

I ordered them from ArtistoCrafty on Etsy.. seriously check out her stuff, she's super nice and has great charms! Want to see, I know you do!

Derrick's Grandpa.

My Grandma.

My beautiful Mom!

All three together.

I LOVE them and cannot wait to use them in the wedding.

I also ordered and received some Nioxin pills. 

You see, I've been having problems with my hair falling out. I use to have thick hair that grew super fast, but lately it's been thin and falling out a lot. So, I read really great reviews on these Nioxin pills and how they help your hair grow faster, thicker and stronger (and it helps your nails, too). The bottle came with 90 caplets and at one a day, they are going to last me until a little bit after the wedding! WOOT! I'll keep you updated on if I start seeing a change (I just took my first pill yesterday.)

Better Put a Ring On It!

Yesterday, my fiance and I stopped at the jewelry store where he got my engagement ring to look for wedding bands. We made a major score which made me realize that I never really took the time to blog about my ring. 

So, first up.. I'm going to share my engagement ring with you all. Derrick did a great job in picking it out himself and as many people know, I love all things sparkly and this ring is just that!

There is a natural curve to the ring in the center, so it threw the idea of having a straight wedding band. After talking to a jeweler, we realized that a contour band would be the way to go for two reasons. 1.) The contour band would curve with the engagement ring. 2.) Since it's not the same exact curve, there's a little gap between the rings.. BUT.. with the gap, it allows the diamonds on the side of the engagement ring to still show some and sparkle. I know it's kind of hard to imagine, but trust me.. when the two were put together it was bling central!

So, what band did we end up with you ask? This one:

The channel setting matches my engagement ring and the round diamonds match most of the diamonds on the engagement ring as well. They look super good together AND.. we got it for 47% off, too! WOOT!

We're eventually going to get the same band again (maybe for a 5 year anniversary) and put it on top of the engagement ring so the bands sandwich the engagement ring. I absolutely loved the rings when they were put together, but unfortunately, it had to be sent out to be sized... I'll try to get pics of them together in person in about two weeks when I'll get it back.

I also have a plan to incorporate not only the wedding band into the ceremony, but also the wedding ring with this little saying:

"As wedding rings are symbols of marriage, an engagement ring is a symbol of promise and intent. Now that the intention is realized and the promise fulfilled, Derrick will place the engagement ring above the wedding band to symbolize that the love which brought them together will always protect and sustain their marriage."

I think it's a cute little way to bring in the importance of the engagement ring into the ceremony and I don't have to worry about that pesky question of what to do with my engagement ring during the ceremony. LOVE IT!

Sketch-y

Sunday night I came home to a wonderful surprise in my inbox.. an e-mail from my sales rep with Dolly Couture!!! And, what did it contain you ask?

THIS:

My custom dress sketch! 

(I love the bling they drew on the hand.. lol, too cute!)

I absolutely LOVE it and I'm going to be placing my order in the next day or two. We're still deciding if we want to do the rush order or not. If we don't do a rush order, the dress will be done in 10-12 weeks, which gets it to me about a month before the wedding. Or, I can do a rush order for an extra $175 and the dress will be done in 6-8 weeks. I'm still trying to decide if having it about a month earlier is worth the extra money. What's your opinion?

Label Me

I wanted to make some cute water bottle labels for the wedding and found a pretty good template on the net. Sticking with the polka dot theme and the colors of our wedding, I spent a good couple hours designing these and I'm pretty stoked with how they came out.

Here are the lovelies:

So cute, right?

Wedding Dress Switch!

As many of you may remember, I was getting a custom made polka dot dress made from etsy that was inspired by the Michelle Roth "Maya" dress. Well, that has fallen through and there for a few days I went through a depression.  See, we are 4 1/2 months out from the wedding which doesn't leave much time to go out and order a dress. But, that wasn't why I went through the depression. You see, I LOVEEE polka dots, I built certain parts of the wedding around having a polka dot wedding dress. I incorporated it into our invites, had a cake topper made, a hair piece made, a tie for Derrick to wear.

So, I picked myself up out of my slump and something marvelous happened. I came across another polka dot dress that I loved.. that I loved more than the one I was having made. But, at the time, I put it on the back burner and forgot about it since I was in the process of having the one made.

It was like the clouds to the Heavens parted when I opened up the pictures of the polka dot beauty. BUT.. problem is, I haven't been able to find this dress ANYWHERE. I searched and searched and searched on google and nada, zilch, zero.. NOTHING.

What did I do, you ask? I contacted Dolly Couture and talked to a rep about making my dress and if it would be enough time.

Answer? Yes, they can make it and yes, it'll be done 1-2 months before my wedding. I'm currently waiting to receive the sketch of the dress before I place my order, but I'm so excited about it. Dolly Couture does amazing work and I have NO worries whatsoever about this.

Want to see the polka dot dress that Dolly Couture is going to make me? Here's the inspiration pictures, I'll share the sketch at a later date when I receive it!

Polka dot? Check! One-Shoulder? Check! Poofy? Check! 

Those were the three main things I wanted in a dress and this dress has those. Hey.. maybe things really do happen for a reason.